Cycling Plan for 2016

At the begining of 2015 I set out to lose weight and get fit. If you are interested reading more about my efforts in using cycling to lose weight you can check my post out here. But it’s not 2015 anymore and I have lost all the weight I set out to and my fitness has climbed to a level that is more than surprising to me.

2016 Plan

So far it has been a very slow start to my cycling commitments in 2016. School holidays and rain have been a real killer. Although the one thing I have noticed is that the breaks have provided some gains in my personal bests. Never the less, I am commitment to cycling another 1000kms above what I did last year. To me this is a bit of a small stretch. 2015 consisted of 5720kms and 44311m climbed (Strava 2015). This also only consisted of 3 grand fondos and my aim is to do at least one per month.

Goals:

Do 1 ride over 100kms every month

Redo both the Hill climb and Sprint training from Sufferfest (love those videos)

Raise my FTP to 300

Get at least 1 KM on Strava

Maybe join a cycling club. Maybe ;)

Oh Strava or Garmin or Trainingpeaks or TrainerRoad?

So I am going to have to face up to my addiction to data. There is a lot to be said for being attuned to your effort both internally and externally and it would seem that I have gone to great lengths to track myself.

Internal tracking

When riding I am able to feel my effort. I can see my heart rate and power output. I can track my cadence. I can feel the burn in my legs. But I am no scientist. So to me these are just things that generate data points. Indicators that allow me to digitise and analyise.

External tracking

When I compare these inidicators to my rides on Strava I am able to pick apart the data and get a feel for what these physical factors mean. I can recall segments and the physical factors and make an assesment. I have also added TrainingPeaks to the mix to get a more detailed view of the load I am putting on my body to get the most out of my training.

Take aways

Cycling is all about mental stimulation. What we all call motivation. One of my big motivators has now become the social side of my cycling. I have been posting pictures for every ride. I am even using the GoPro for better shots. Initially this was just for posterity but what I found was a large community of people on Instagram who support each other. It’s the psyche of the cyclist in fellow cyclist which understand the demand on the engine. Who relish in the dull moan in your legs after a long ride.

If you are keen to follow me on instagram or strava I have provided me links.